


The Gift

by magequisition



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Oneshot, Porn with Feelings, Reunion Sex, SO MUCH FLUFF, surprise it's the inquisitors nameday and even she didn't know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-05 21:49:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4196154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magequisition/pseuds/magequisition
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alina Lavellan has just returned to Skyhold after a couple of weeks away on a grueling expedition to the Western Approach. She returns home wanting nothing more than a bath and a nap. She gets her bath, but then Cullen has some important news to share that simply can't wait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift

                Alina Lavellan sank to the chair behind her desk with a sigh. The last trip to the Western Approach had been a particularly grueling one and there’d been times she wasn’t convinced she was making it back to Skyhold. Her team, of course, had been invaluable – Cole, whispering validations of her fears and encouraging her all at the same time, Dorian, with his infallible ability to remember to place barriers on them even when she was focused on destroying whatever was in her path with either fire or her spirit blade, depending on the situation, and Bull, endlessly begging to find a dragon to kill while simultaneously hitting on Dorian and happily taking out anything that took the boss too close to death – but it had been a rough trip and far too long for her liking. She’d bathed upon their return and had hoped for a nap, but when she saw the folded letter on her desk she knew she wouldn’t rest until she’d at least seen what it had to say. With luck, it’d be some diplomatic request she could beg Josephine to take over for her. She pulled the twine from around the letter quickly, dropping it to the desk as she unfolded the parchment.

                _Dearest Inquisitor,_ she read. She smiled as she recognised the hand – not a diplomatic request, then. She continued.

                _I know it’s been a long journey, but I wonder if I might beg one favour of you. I’ve something of immediate importance to discuss, and it’s rather time sensitive. If you’d do me the favour of coming to see me when you’ve a moment, I’d appreciate it more than I could say._

_Cullen._

She was about to fold it away when she noticed the small note hastily scribbled at the very bottom of the page.

                _-Tried to keep this professional, can’t do it – missed you, love. Welcome home._

Alina smiled. He did always try, so hard. But even the most professional communications from Cullen were filled with at least small endearments lately. She didn’t know if it was the fears he’d confessed with them being on the edge of defeating Corypheus, if he was simply becoming comfortable enough to not quite care about total formality, or if it was something else entirely, but she certainly couldn’t complain about the change. Every hastily scribbled note, every light touch at the small of her back, every half-hidden grin across the war table gave her one more reminder of what to fight for. It was something to hang on to when she lay awake in her tent on journeys away, anxiety eating away at her as she stared at the canvas roof and doubted everything she knew. It gave her the strength to comfort him, her big, tough military commander, when he pulled her close to his chest and confessed, murmuring into her messy brown hair, just how terrified he was at the idea of losing her.  
               

                Creators, she still didn’t know if it was right, but she loved him. Setting the letter down on her desk, she stood. Her rest could wait. She slipped out of her quarters and hoped she’d be able to make it to Cullen’s office without being stopped by too many well-meaning soldiers, advisors, and visiting dignitaries.        
               

                Her wishes were granted, the trip across Skyhold’s courtyard taking only a few minutes. She pressed open the door to Cullen’s office and stepped inside, glancing around.  
                 

                “Cullen?” she called out.  
               

                “I’m up here,” she heard his voice waft down from his quarters and smiled. Feigned professionalism in the note aside, it was clear he had something else in mind. She took to the ladder and climbed as quickly as her aching muscles would allow. When she reached the top, climbing over the edge into the sleeping quarters, she found herself awash in soft light. Candles were scattered through the loft, small ones which were quite different from the large ones Cullen preferred to work by. A small table stood at the edge of the room, covered in small sweets and baked goods, several of which she immediately identified as Dalish. To the side of the table, Cullen stood in just his linen shirt and light leather breeches, his rarely-removed armour hanging on its rack.  
               

               “Cullen?” she asked again, incredulousness creeping into her voice now.  
               

                He smiled, a hand coming up to rub the back of his neck as his cheeks reddened. “Welcome home, love,” he said. “And, ah, happy nameday.”  
                  
                Alina ran a hand through her hair, trying to keep from laughing as she so often did when faced with a non-lethal surprise. “What – I – Cullen, how did you…?” she stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

                “It was something one of your clan mentioned to Leliana’s people, once, when we were contacting them. I’m sorry, I can’t recall her name now. But she said that if we were to be your new family that we ought to know, for when you saved the world.” He crossed the room to where she stood and took her hand in his. She laced her fingers between his own and stepped closer to him, rising to her toes to wrap her free arm around his neck, her face burying itself against his collarbone. He twisted his hand free of hers to wrap his arms around her waist.  
                  
                “This is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me,” she mumbled against him before raising her head to face him. Tears shone in her eyes and she felt his arms tighten around her waist. “Thank you, Cullen. This is beautiful.”  
                  
                Cullen smiled. “I’m pleased you like it, love,” he said. “You have given – give every day – so much of yourself for us, for this…I wanted to be able to do something for you.”  
                  
               “ _Ma vhenan_ ,” Alina said, “I do what I must. Some days I’m afraid it won’t even be enough.  And yet day in and day out you fight everything you’ve ever been taught, everything you’ve ever been forced to believe, and you question what is valid and what is not to try and better yourself. Please don’t ever believe you don’t do enough for me.”  
                  
               Cullen smiled at her as he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, his thumbs trailing over the vallaslin on her cheekbones. “Those, I do for the Inquisition. Because we must save Thedas. You are the leader of the Inquisition, it’s true, and so in a way they’re done for you, but they’re done for the Inquisitor, more than anything. This, I do for _you._ ” He poked her lightly on her collarbone and she laughed. “After all, if I don’t take care of you, you certainly won’t do it.”  
                 
               Alina swatted him playfully on the chest. “I’m a big girl, Ser Rutherford,” she said.  
                  
               He laughed and scooped her up, carrying her bridal-style towards his bed. “Indeed you are, Miss Lavellan,” he said, dropping her gently so that she bounced just slightly on the mattress. He leaned over her and she grabbed his face in both hands to pull him down for a kiss. He lifted one hand from where it had been supporting him on the mattress to trace a finger along her shoulder and arm and she giggled, shifted, and the mattress wobbled underneath them, sending him off balance. He crashed down on top of her, rolling off as quickly as he could amidst peals of laughter from them both. He rolled on to his side and tugged her in close to him, her tiny frame nearly engulfed by his larger one.  
                 
               “Truly, Cullen, thank you. In all honesty I’d forgotten about my own nameday, I’ve literally no idea where in the year we are beyond the season, and I certainly didn’t think anyone else knew about it.”  
                  
               “I’m glad I could do something for you. You deserve it,” Cullen said, bending his head to kiss her softly again, secure in the knowledge that this time, at least, he had the leverage to keep his balance. Her tongue teased lazily along his lower lip, and he kissed her solidly once more before pulling back slightly, one eyebrow arching in surprise. “Aren’t you tired, love?” he asked slowly.  
                  
               Alina grinned. “Mmm, yes, but somehow less so than I was half an hour ago.” She lifted a hand to guide his lips to hers again, stronger determination entering the kiss this time as his lips parted immediately to accommodate her searching tongue. The hand tucked in at her hip when he’d tugged her against him began to roam, sliding slowly down her thigh before moving back up along her side to round her hip. Even through the light jacket she wore around Skyhold, the gentle brush of his hand against her stomach caused a sharp intake of breath, and a light squeeze of her breast elicited a soft moan.  
                  
               “Maker, Alina,” he murmured against her lips. “So sensitive.” He pulled back a fraction of an inch to give her room to catch her breath, which had sped up significantly already.  
                  
               “It’s been _two weeks_ ,” she said, a slight whine entering her voice. “And with all this?” she waved one hand vaguely around the room, not breaking her eye contact. “Could I be anything else?”

                Cullen smiled. It was tender at first, until an unmistakable look of humour flitted across his face, causing the corners of his mouth to quirk up even more.

               “Cullen Rutherford, don’t you dare think about teasing me right now,” Alina said with a mock stern expression on her face. “I may actually lose my mind. You wouldn’t do that to me on today of all days, would you?”

               “Says Miss I-Forgot-My-Own-Nameday,” Cullen said with a laugh before leaning in to capture her lips with his own again. Alina giggled, sucking in a sharp breath when she felt his hands drift along the front of her jacket, slipping his thumb in between the inner hooks and flipping them open. When it finally fell open completely he stopped a moment, taking her in before sliding his hand along the pale skin of her abdomen, marked here and there by scars that she refused to have healed properly.  His fingers skimmed over the curve of her stomach and slid to her side, where she squirmed away from his hand in a fit of giggles. He took the opportunity to slide his hand along her arm to her hand, pushing it up above her head and swinging his body over her. His lips darted over her face and neck, never lingering, leaving just enough of an impression to cut her giggles off and replace them with a soft whimper. Hands pinned lightly above her head – when had he taken her second hand? – she stretched her neck forward to try and kiss him. His lips met hers once again and they kissed, more frantic than before, until they were both breathing heavily. He pulled his lips from hers and rest their foreheads against one another.

               “Maker’s breath, Alina, I missed you,” he said softly. “Thank you for coming home to me.”

               “I will always come home to you,” she replied, wiggling one hand free to brush against his cheekbone. “But if you missed me, then prove it.” She winked.

               “Little minx,” he said, grinning down at her as he sat back, releasing her hand and pulling off his shirt in a movement so smooth she barely understood how it was possible. As his hands drifted down to the waist of his leather breeches, fiddling slowly with the laces, she sat bolt upright and pulled off her jacket, tossing it to the side before lifting her hips to slide her pants off. They tangled around her ankles and she grumbled, her face reddening as he chuckled. When she freed herself, she tossed the offending garment aside to join her jacket on the floor. Cullen’s own breeches joined them shortly and he pressed his body over hers again, his arms coming to rest at her sides to support his weight as he kissed her softly on the lips, then trailed his kisses along her neck and collarbone until he reached her breasts. He placed a light kiss on each nipple, causing her to giggle until he drew one into his mouth, sucking and nipping at it before laving over it with his tongue and moving to the other. Her giggles turned to sighs as he teased and tweaked the tiny bud, and she could feel his erection pressing into her thigh.

                “Cullen, please,” she said, barely above a whisper. Lifting one hand from the bed and shifting some of his weight back to his knees to maintain his balance, he slid along her thigh and over her lower abdomen before slowly trailing his fingers down. He skimmed around her sensitive nub, brushing his fingers over her folds and reveling in the dampness he found already on the outside of them. She gasped, and he slid two fingers slowly inside of her.

                “You’re positively dripping, love,” he said, smiling as he felt her already tightening around him. “Is this for me?”

                 She tried to glare at him through her whimpers. “You know it is, you ass. Please Cullen. I need –“ she was cut off by his fingers sliding out of him, quickly being replaced by his cock. She moaned loudly, trying to move her pinned hips to gain the friction she badly needed.

                “Alina, love, open your eyes,” he said. She grumbled, but obeyed, and was rewarded with the sight of Cullen sliding his two fingers, glistening with her wetness, into his mouth. He sucked on them slowly and she could see his tongue working over them from the movement of his cheeks.

                “I can’t get enough of you,” he murmured after he’d removed his fingers with a soft sucking sound and leaned back down over her, nuzzling at her neck. He started to move, then, and she groaned, her hands sliding over his chest and back with almost a mind of their own, finally settling to tangle in his hair when he kissed her. She could taste herself on his tongue and it was enough to send her over the edge. He held her as she convulsed around him, a stream of curses falling from her lips. When she finally began to relax, one hand left his hair and slipped down between them, deft fingers rubbing over her clit and brushing against his cock every time he pulled back to thrust. It was too much for him to stand – with a final thrust into her he froze, spilling himself inside her with a soft utterance of her name. Her fingers pressed hard against herself one more time and with Cullen still pulsing inside of her, she found herself sailing over the edge once more. He collapsed against her and her eyes drifted closed for a moment as they both struggled to regain their breath. Cullen rolled off of her as soon as he had the coherency of mind to do so and pulled her to his chest. She buried her face into him and breathed him in, feeling the quick beat of his heart against her forehead. When both of their breathing had slowed to a more natural speed, Cullen moved to get up. Alina threw an arm over him.

                “No,” she said.

                “I’ll be back, my love. I’m just going to get a cloth.”

                “Don’t need it. I don’t care if you don’t. I just need you, right now.”

                 Cullen let his arm fall back over her hips and kissed the top of her head. “Then here I’ll stay,” he said. “Happy nameday, Alina.” His voice danced over her ear in a warm breath. She smiled, nearly asleep already.

                “Ar lath ma, vhenan,” she murmured as she faded into the warmth of his arms around her. “Thank you.”    
  
  
  
               

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for any indentation/other formatting errors. AO3 decided to muck with my formatting when I copied it over. I think I caught them all, but if I missed something I am sorry!


End file.
